Why is it in the news?
- Recently, the Supreme Court directed the ECI to host the electoral bonds data on its website by March 15, 2024, which was duly complied with by the ECI.
- The data was provided by SBI on March 12, 2024, and subsequently made public by the ECI.
Highlights of the disclosed data (April 12, 2019, to January 11, 2024)
- The disclosed data includes two lists: one listing political parties encashing electoral bonds and the other listing corporates and individuals purchasing these bonds.
- Un-encashed electoral bonds were transferred to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the largest beneficiary, encashing electoral bonds worth ₹6,060.5 crores, representing over 5% of the total bonds encashed by all parties.
- All India Trinamool Congress received ₹1,609.50 crores, while the Congress received ₹1,421.9 crores.
- Other notable beneficiaries include Bharat Rashtra Samithi (₹1,214 crores), Biju Janata Dal (₹775 crores), and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (₹639 crores).
Top Donors
- Future Gaming and Hotel Services PR, managed by Santiago Martin, donated the highest amount, totalling ₹1,368 crores through electoral bonds between April 12, 2019, and January 24, 2024.
- Further, 22 companies donated over ₹100 crores during this period.
- Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited was the second-largest donor, contributing ₹966 crores.
- Other major donors include Qwik Supply Chain Private Limited (₹410 crores), Haldia Energy Limited (₹377 crores), and Vedanta Limited (₹65 crores).
- Donors purchased electoral bonds worth over ₹12,155 crores, while political parties encashed bonds totalling more than ₹12,769 crores during the same period.
